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Apr 12, 2022

"We know now, for certain, that we do not live in an inert universe. How to work with clay knowing this? How do we embody information so that a living material becomes a threshold for healing our deracination from our true, our wild natures?" --Paulus Berensohn

To Spring from the Hand

At age 4 Paulus Berensohn asked his parents for dance lessons. "Boys in our family don't dance," was their response. That didn't deter him. When his mother complained to a friend about his persistence, her friend exclaimed, "But Edith, to dance is to spring from the hand of God!" Berensohn would go on to study dance at Juilliard, but his life took another unexpected turn when he witnessed Karen Karnes, a famous potter of the time, at work. The play of breath, energy and movement in her practice of the craft led him to a deep revelation of his own aspiration. "What happened was a desire to de-professionalize my interest in art," says Berensohn, "I was suddenly overwhelmed with a longing to learn that dance. The bridge for me at first wasn't so much the clay itself and what one made of it, or so I thought, but the dance one dances with it." Paulus pivoted his life towards pottery and a profound inner exploration. In his words, "I am very interested in the behavior of art rather than the achievement of art. I see all the arts as apprenticeships for the big art of our lives." A new documentary, "To Spring From the Hand" pays tribute to this extraordinary potter and his enduring legacy. You can watch a few excerpts here.